‘Return Of The Stranger’ by Reay Tannahill

So as not to show any spoilers I have not included a synopsis, however, you can find out more about the story by simply clicking on the cover image.

If you don’t really want to read any major spoilers, then you can tease yourself a little more, by reading the first few lines of the story … here

Night after night during the golden, early summer dusks of the Season, the West End of London was crammed with conveyances bearing white neck-tied gentlemen and exquisitely coiffed ladies to dinner engagements designed to fortify them against evenings rarely less than six parties deep. Tassie, sufficiently familiar by now with the fashionable world to recognise some of the carriages, found herself speculating occasionally, as she walked from the Bayswater Road to Audley Street or Mount Street, as to where their occupants might be bound.

From the grandiose mansions of Belgravia to the leafy confines of St John’s Wood there were red carpets laid out for them, doors standing open for them, perspiring kitchens waited to feed them. There were footmen to escort them upstairs and grooms on guard, downstairs, to chase from their sight the ragged Amelia Anns and Sarah Janes, the waifs from the slums with smaller waifs clutched by the hand, whose evening pastime was to stand outside the houses of the rich and watch the fine gentlemen and pretty ladies come and go.

Yvonne

I can’t remember a time, even as a child, when I haven’t been passionate about books and reading.
I began blogging, when I realised just how many other people out there shared my passion for the written word and I have been continually amazed at the wealth of books that are available and the amount of great new friends I have made, from literally 'The Four Corners Of The World'.

10 comments

Just based on these teasers, this sounds like something I would enjoy and looking back at the beginning lines, I remember the premise. I look forward to your full review.

My teaser is taken from 50/51% into the Kindle version of Brood X by Michael Phillip Cash.

“Bending down, he reached through a tangle of weeds, freezing, his hand came in contact with a slippery shell.
‘What the…?’ he peered around the unit. There it was, in living color. The brown cicada shell was about the size of Seth’s pinky. He had never seen an exoskeleton that big before.
It was wet, with a crusty brown shell exterior. It was split down the middle, and he knew that somewhere in his yard was a bug the size of a clothes pin.”

In the context of the story, these lines are totally in keeping and very well described. Is Tassie one of the waifs and strays I wonder, or does she simply choose not to be a part of this extravagant set of humanity?
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You really have a love affair going with bugs at the moment, don’t you? First of all all those scary pictures you took — now this! I was almost frightened to check out the full synopsis because I could just guess what was coming! Not one for me I’m afraid, I’d be having nightmares forever!

I hope that you are enjoying the read though and thanks for sharing your lines 🙂

‘White neck-tied gentlemen and exquisitely coiffed ladies’ – sounds like my kind of read and that’s before I read those teasers. Thank you for sharing.

‘Elliott sat behind the desk, and Roarke got to the point. “We’re looking for a prostitute.”

Her eyes and voice turned to ice. “They’re not prostitutes, 2 SHE SAID. “They’re sexually abused and commercially exploited youth.”
– Page 149: Blood Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff. I’ve just finished book one (Huntress Moon) in the series which, a very different type of thriller, was great.

The etiquette, pomp and grandeur of those bygone days, although the fact that ‘waifs and strays’ were shooed away, wasn’t quite so good!

This book is historical fiction at its best, from an author who also wrote many non-fiction historical books, before her passing in 2007.
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I have added the first book in ‘The Huntress’ series, ‘Huntress Moon’, to my list, after it was recommended by so many fellow bloggers and Goodreads friends. The premise does state that this series should ideally be followed in sequence, so I was wondering if you have read the first part of the series, or if you are reading this one as a stand alone? I should be interested to get your take on it.

By the sound of things, Roarke has definitely found a way to get under Elliott’s skin and I am intrigued to know which one of them has the correct take on the situation!

Nice lines Yvonne. I looked on Amazon and Return of the Stranger sounds juicy what with a long lost son and illicit affairs… I always enjoy good twists and turns and the London setting sounds good too.
Happy reading!

Historical romance is always good for a bit of juicy gossip, illicit affairs and illegitimate offspring, isn’t it?

I can’t help but get sucked into these storylines, although I couldn’t read the genre to the exclusion of everything else.

I know that scenes such as those described in my excerpts, went on in places all over the world, not only in London. However London has become rather synonymous with all the glitz and glamour of the society’s elite from this period, which always helps to make the storylines more believeable for me, as it is part of my own history!

Thanks for taking the time to check this one out and to add your interesting POV to the discussion 🙂